Travelling home…

again!

Kia Ora!

Taking time to check in from the Land of the Long White Cloud – aren’t I just your favourite Blogger ever!! 🙂

Wake up call!

Alors… well I had an early morning wake up call set for 05h00 however the Jetlag Gods were preparing me ahead of time and felt the need to keep me wide awake and entertained from midnight thru to 03h30! The constant buzzing of a mosquito dive bombing my ear drums didn’t help one bit either!

I must have dozed off between 03h30 and my planned wake up call because my mobile alarm made me stir with a start from my slumber and I was up and out of bed with thoughts of the Jetlag Gods but a distant memory!

Airport drop!

My beautiful son Marc agreed to drop my sister and me off at the airport at the ungodly hour of 06h30 which we appreciated and we said our goodbyes with lots of hugs and kisses and made our way to the check in counter.

There was a small issue with my sister’s booking as it appeared that the changes made with her initial booking was not sent thru to Air New Zealand and so we spent a good 20 minutes trying to get that sorted so she could continue with the check in process. All ended well and we thanked the lovely check in girl for her assistance and very friendly manner. The difference between good and bad customer service really can make or break your day!

Across the ditch!

We initially booked a Virgin flight however in due course it became a co share flight with Air New Zealand. We were more than happy with that too! The crew were friendly, the leg room more than adequate and the lovely check in girl had placed us close to the pointy end!

Touch down Christchurch!

We managed to land on time and got thru Customs and Immigration with no problems, collected our luggage and then waited for our gorgeous brother Steve to pick us up.

Family time!

Steve arrived on time and we were grateful that his car was large enough to fit our suitcases in the boot! He lives only about a 10 minute drive from the airport and as he works from home it turned out great that he was able to come and collect us.

It was a beautiful day in Christchurch and the Sun Gods were definitely present and accounted for and we were able to enjoy a BBQ dinner outside which was fabulous! Our cousin Jane had flown in from Hobart earlier in the day and joined us for dinner and some vino…. great catching up on old times with lots of laughter… ok, it was noisy laughter and we may have kept the children from sleeping …mais tom pee right!

Southern bound!

My cousin Jane and I were flying down to Invercargill the next morning and we met up at the airport and boarded our very small plane to head south to the bottom of New Zealand! We were hoping for a smooth flight however that wasn’t the case and on more than one occasion we felt the plane drop and swerve and drop again which didn’t sit well with either of us! On our descent to Invercargill we actually had to bypass the airport and headed out to sea to turn around so that the plane could land!

Weather Gods!

Mon Dieu… getting out of the plane was a relief but as soon as we stepped out into the Invercargill weather we knew we were in for something else! It was seriously freezing!!My sister was there to greet us and we made our way back to her place where thankfully it was cosy and warm inside!

Meet & Greet!

Friday night was the beginning of our Sacred Heart Primary School’s 50th Jubilee celebrations and we were waiting in anticipation to see some familiar faces at the Registration. Of course it didn’t take long before we all remembered someone and there were hugs all round and ooh’s and ahh’s and laughter and smiles. It was a great night and we got to see some of the old school photos on the boards which were placed around the room. Amazing to see some of my classmates who all recognised me straight off without even looking at my name tag!

A walk down memory lane!

Saturday morning we were in the school hall for class reunion photos and after that we were allowed to walk thru the school. My first memory of the school hall was that we all had to eat our lunches there in bad weather and during the winter months we were served hot cocoa from large plastic buckets. I remember the cocoa tasted like dishwater but hey… it was hot and it warmed our tummies for the rest of the day!

Once our photos were done we were free to walk thru the class rooms and I joined my classmates to take the tour. Such fun remembering each of the rooms and the nuns who taught us! My Auntie Verna (my cousin Jane’s Mom) was the first Lay Teacher to teach at the school and it so happened that she taught me during my Standard 1 year. A memory I have of my Auntie is that one day she locked me in the back cupboard of the class room for a short time because I didn’t know my maths times tables… I was mortified that she would tell my parents on me but I don’t think she did (maybe she did love me after all!). One of my other class mates said my Auntie placed sticky tape over her mouth to stop her chattering on more than one occasion! LOL! She certainly left some memories for us that’s for sure but to this day I love my Auntie very much! Though for the record, let’s be clear, I still hate that back cupboard! 🙂

Gala Dinner!

Saturday evening was our Gala Dinner and we all frocked up to go to the Workingman’s Club (not quite The Ritz but hey, it worked just fine!) and enjoy dinner, drinks and entertainment for the night. Again, this was so much fun and it was interesting to see how the groups of classmates all congregated together and enjoyed each other’s company thru out the evening.

We got to spend time with our neighbours the Stratherns, the McCoy’s and the Simmonds, who lived in Holloway and Cargill Streets, along with the Mahoney’s and Casper’s who lived in Bainfield Road. The Dunne’s were there too along with the Rabbits, the Creedy’s, the Edgerton’s the Van Emple’s and the O’Neil’sfrom Grasmere. The Van der Lemswere there and Virginia had some lovely things to say about my Mom who used to work at their parent’s Motel on the main road. There were lots of families represented however I think we were the only family that was represented in full which was a great effort considering my sister, my cousin and I all came across the ditch for it!

Sunday Mass!

Donc..after the fabulous attendance by the Dawson family at the Gala Dinner it appears they left me high and dry when it came to attendance at our Sunday Mass! However as I was invited to do the First Reading I thought it only right that I turn up on time! I found Father Vince (who had sat with us at dinner and who was representing the Bishop) and he reassured me that all would go well for the reading! Ok, ok, I did the first part of the reading very well!! It’s just that I may have stuffed up the Responsorial Psalm a little as I was expecting to read it out by myself and didn’t realise the whole congregation would be participating too! Tom pee… I did my best! Afterwards Father Vince said I did a great job and even he didn’t realise they would be reading along with me!

More family time!

On the Sunday evening my sister Sharon said we should all eat together as a family and so we got ourselves organised and prepared some favourite dishes of seafood and good hearty food and invited our family friends over to enjoy another wonderful evening of laughter and good times.

Alors… it really doesn’t get much better than this! 🙂

Bisous

Murielle!

YOUR FEEDBACK

IS APPRECIATED!

Cheryl

Glad you are having such an excellent time!

Roniece

Thanks lovely… I am! Good for my soul! xx

denisefrombolton

Funny I never really thought about jetlag between Oz and NZ. Nice to rad of your adventures and you had a wonderful trip.
Love Deniuse

Roniece

hey lovely .. it’s only 2hrs difference but makes for a long day of travel the first day! Thanks for your comments. xx

sistereurope

There’s no place like home Muriel! Glad you were able to visit with your classmates. xo

Forever Paris...

Paris forever!

One of my passions is to travel. However for more than a few years now I seem to have found myself visiting Paris for extended periods of time.. well, make that weeks at least! i know it won't last forever but while it does... I'm going to enjoy every moment!